Hello everyone! Well, I started another book in the attempts at getting back into the swing of things. So, for your enjoyment here is a sampling of Markey's Last Chance!

​Markey's Last Chance

Undines of the Pacific 1

​Snippet

​“Welcome back, Markey.”

Glancing to the surrounding rocks, Markey nodded to the tall woman standing at the base of a set of stairs leading up from the beach to the lighthouse above. Red hair, green eyes, and a rounded belly stood out the most about her. “Hello, Freja.”

“Come on.” Freja motioned for him to follow her back up the steep steps. “Let’s get you dried up and on your way. Oscar’s out fixing a boat motor at this time, but he’ll be back for dinner, and tomorrow he’ll take you around town.”

A part of Markey hated that his elder sister was so comfortable and happy on land, even while her stomach was swollen with her third child. She’d found Oscar on her first trip to land, and she hadn’t returned to their home beneath the waves since. Sure, she sent her young to them to be raised and cared for properly, but it wasn’t the same. Yes Oscar was irritated when he leaned his children would be sent away immediately, but when he realized they were born with gills, needing water to survive, he relented.

“Oscar can’t wait to hear about how Alex and Storm are doing. I keep telling him they’re fine, we’ve received all the seashells they’ve sent, but he still wants to hear someone else tell him that.”

At least Markey wouldn’t have to worry about this part of a relationship with a human man. Undine men and human men were the same in that aspect, they couldn’t have children. Thank Neptune! Like undine women though, undine men required the same connection with human men if they were to obtain a full soul and live happily. For that reason they came to land in search of a husband, but not just any human man would do. No, it had to be the one connected to them by the red string of fate.

Markey looked at his left hand and the red transparent ring glowing around it. When he’d first started this part of his life the ring had been bright and solid. Now, it was like the dying light of an eclipsing sun. Soon there would be nothing left of his string, and Markey would wonder the oceans alone.

“You’ll find him.” Freja set her hand on Markey’s shoulder, squeezing it gently. “No one in our family has ever failed to find their match.”

“First time for everything,” Markey mumbled.

He brushed off his sister’s hand and continued up the steps. He didn’t care about finding his match anymore. He just wanted this to be over. Disappointment and heartache were a cold, hard substance to swallow. He’d done it four times now. At least after this year he wouldn’t have to feel it anymore. He wouldn’t feel anything, actually. Markey couldn’t wait for that moment to come.

Coming to the top of the stairs, Markey’s eyes rested on the lighthouse his sister maintained. She also used it as a boarding home for undines looking for their human matches. Oscar ran a boat mechanic shop nearby, and also helped out with the lighthouse. While Freja was pregnant Oscar did all the shopping allowing her to stay inside with the excuse of her being ill, again.

“So, where do you want to start first?” Freja asked and walked around Markey to the house attached to the lighthouse itself. “Job hunting or husband hunting?”

“Job hunting,” Markey answered, following her in.

“There are a few places in town that are hiring, though I think Josh’s Fish Fry might be your best bet,” Freja explained as she handed him a towel resting on a stool by the door. “You know seafood better than any human, and it’s a restaurant, so plenty of chances to look around.”

Markey wasn’t going to explain that he was just looking for a job to pass the time, not because he wanted to find his match. Again, he found himself looking at his pinky and the dimming red ring sitting there. The day it vanished was the day he could finally move on in his life.

“You know where you room is,” Freja indicated a set of stairs leading up to the second level of the house. “Your clothes are still up there. Take a warm shower and get some rest. If you want dinner, it’ll be ready in two hours.”

Thanking her, he ambled up the staircase and into his room. It didn’t look like anything had changed since he’d left last fall. Except, he knew things had. Markey was no longer the hopeful boy he was in the previous years. He couldn’t even bring himself to pull up a shred of longing for what so many other undines had found before him. A complete soul and true love.

Tossing the damp towel aside, he stepped into the attached bath—one he shared with his neighbor whoever that was this year—and turned on the shower. At least Freja was right about him needing the hot shower. His bones were already starting to feel the chill. To think he could swim in the coldest waters in the oceans, and yet just being on land and in the wind for less than twenty minutes made him shiver. Human bodies were baffling!

As he washed, his fingers lingered on the smooth skin of his neck. Usually his gills were located there, making the area raised and a bit rough to the touch. His entire body was transformed in this state. His skin, having more of a shark like quality to it when he was in the water, but with the same color as humans, was now smooth and so easily broken. Two legs, flimsy weak things, took the place of his powerful dark blue tail. Even his hands were different, lacking the webbing they usually had to help him swim.

The only things that didn’t change with the transformation were his hair color and eyes. Auburn hair and stormy grey eyes made him stand out amongst his siblings, but he hadn’t cared. Until recently, Markey had always thought himself lucky to be born with such striking features. Now, he felt cursed by them. As attractive as he was, he still couldn’t find the one human that would truly appreciate him.

Oh, men liked his looks. Markey couldn’t count the number of offers he’d gotten. It didn’t matter how many men sought his companionship though. If they weren’t the one, it was just pointless sex.

With his depression growing, Markey got out of the shower, dried off, and slid into bed. Maybe a short nap would help lift his spirits? He doubted it, but it was worth a shot all the same.

* * * *

Fog clung to the seaside town of Sedna, Oregon even as the sun rose to its zenith. It was a cold, dismal spring day, but nothing the locals weren’t already accustomed to. Markey pulled his coat closer to him as he got out of Oscar’s truck and looked at the sign above the small dock side restaurant. Its white paint could use a touch up, along with the greying blue trim. Josh’s Fish Fry was painted in bold letters across the front of the building, with a fish on a hook and line at the end of it. Seemed he also had a tackle shop attached to the building. A sign reading “Now Hiring” in bold letters hung in the restaurant half’s window.

“Ready?” Oscar asked before slamming the truck door and walking around the hood. “Josh is an old friend of mine, and I’ve already spoken to him about you.”

“Thank you.” Markey fought to keep the irritation from his voice as he followed his brother-in-law into the establishment. At least the inside didn’t look as shabby as the outside.

“Hey, Bethany, where’s Josh?” Oscar shouted to a woman hurrying across the floor with a try full of food.

“In the back,” she hollered back. The place might not be shabby, but it was sure as shit loud! With the kind of business this place was obviously doing, Markey wondered why the owner couldn’t afford to pain the outside.

Oscar led the way to the back and Markey found himself rubbing at his finger the further they went inward. It was like a warmth radiating around his little finger. Frowning, he looked down—half expecting to see he’d been bitten by something—only to gape. The once faded red ring was bright and there was even a string leading off of it.

“Oscar.” Markey stopped his brother-in-law from advancing another step.

“What’s wrong?”

He knew Oscar couldn’t see the string, but he didn’t care. He still held up his hand and smiled like a fool. He’d thought this year would just pass in disappointment, that he wouldn’t find what he was looking for. Seemed fate hadn’t abandoned him.

“He’s here,” Markey said.

“Whose here?”

“Oh, hey Josh.” Markey turned to his right and felt his jaw go slack. The red string was connected to the owner of this restaurant?

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A.M. Halford

Mondays: Free post days where I post about anything I feel like talking about.Wednesdays: WIP Wednesdays where I post articles about my current works in progress and share a small snippet from one of them.Fridays: Author Spotlights. I share an author and spotlight their work!